


The Mortal Heart

by AvaCelt



Series: 2020 Bollywood Prompt Fills [13]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Inspired by Bollywood, M/M, YunoAsu through the eyes of one Orsi Orfai, ft Ralph for the drama, takes place sometime after Ralph arrives in Hage but before Asta and Nacht disappear off to train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27951698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaCelt/pseuds/AvaCelt
Summary: On the eve of the Spade Kingdom invasion, Father Orsi Orfai and Ralph Niaflem have a heart-to-heart. [Pre-chapter 270, YunoAsu]
Relationships: Asta/Yuno (Black Clover)
Series: 2020 Bollywood Prompt Fills [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969198
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41
Collections: IAmStoryteller's Best of Black Clover Fic Rec





	The Mortal Heart

“I had a feeling he would grow up to become someone regardless of where he was raised,” Ralph Niaflem said softly, eyes fixed on the lukewarm tea in his lap. “Our king and queen, my father... we all put our faith in him that night. We knew that one day, he would grow up to be a hero – our hero.”

“I'm sure they did,” Orsi Orfai replied with a sad smile. Unlike the former who's eyes were still on his teacup, Orsi looked at the figure still recovering in his home, a man who claimed to be a loyal retainer of his son Yuno.

His son Yuno, who apparently had a name and a history now.

“He was destined for greatness when he came into this world,” Ralph Niaflem continued with a touch of reverence. “We built the Resistance on the hope that he would return to us one day.” The younger man sighed and rubbed one of his wet eyes. “We couldn't raise him ourselves because we were scared the Dark Triad would find out and kill him, so my father...” Ralph Niaflem's eyes suddenly shot up from his cup and looked to Orsi who was sitting on the opposite end of the small room. “You have to understand, we had no choice! My father, he-” Ralph Niaflem's words hitched in his throat and he choked back a sob. “He...”

“He did what he had to do,” Orsi finished for the younger man. Somehow, he found it in himself not to snap at the bedridden man that his Yuno, _his son Yuno_ , was much more than the castaway of a royal family from a distant land, that he too loved and was loved, and that if the younger man's father hadn't brought Yuno to the church that freezing night, then Yuno would never have met his one great love.

Orsi found himself grinning. “I've never once regretted taking him in,” he sniffed with a wet smile. “Neither him nor Asta. They're my precious sons, and they'll always be welcome here. This village,” Orsi threw up his hands and gestured to the small room, “this church – this is their home.”

Something seemed to click in Ralph Niaflem's eyes. “Asta... was that the other child the nun was speaking of?”

“That's him!” Orsi blurted a bit too quickly, but found himself laughing heartily anyway, the tears that were just beginning to pool in his eyes already dried and forgotten. “I always assumed the same person had left the children, but judging from your stories, your father left only one baby at our doorstep.”

Ralph nodded, and the distant look in his eyes only grew heavier. “Many of the other children, sons and daughters of loyal retainers, they either fled underground or to remote regions of the nation. I and some of the others who were a bit older, we were left in the hands of the Resistance. The others...” Ralph toyed with the cup of cold tea in his hand. “... Let's just say that we have quite a few mountains the Dark Triad has yet to overcome.”

“Your land lives in perpetual winter, does it not?” Orsi asked carefully.

Ralph blinked. “Ah, yes. Snow...” Finally, a small smile began to play on the younger man's lips. “We have four different mountain ranges, and the largest of them border the sea. You've probably heard the stories...”

“The coldest sea in the world,” Orsi nodded. “Is that...” Orsi swallowed the pain in his throat. “Is that where Yuno was born?”

“No,” Ralph smiled halfheartedly. “He was born in the capital. Our city is far, far away from the sea. It's true our lands are forever trapped in snow, but there's beauty in the light after a snowstorm. It's the clearest sky you'll ever see in your life, and it's even clearer by the ocean. When Prince Yuno comes ho-”

“-Yuno's home is right where you're sitting,” Orsi interrupted abruptly.

Ralph Niaflem gaped. “I-I didn't mean...”

Orsi sighed and chuckled dryly. “I know exactly what you meant, but it would behoove you to remember that Yuno didn't join the Magic Knights to become your ruler. He became a Magic Knight...” Orsi found that he couldn't finish the sentence, when Yuno himself had never finished the sentence.

Ralph Niaflem seemed to find his composure again. “Why did Prince Yuno join your military?”

Orsi remembered a church where once upon a time, few prayed within its walls, and even fewer slept near its hearth. He remembered it before the gaggle of children who scurried from one end of the church to the other. He remembered it before it'd been painted with laughter and joy.

He remembered it before he took in two little children, freezing in the cold with no one to keep them safe.

“Out of love,” Orsi finished curtly. “He joined for love. Love of country, love of family – our Yuno, he's always been a sensible lad. Has a great sense of honor, and cares deeply for his family. He's our pride, that one. And...”

Orsi remembered those years before the rest of the children arrived, remembered watching Asta and Yuno grow together, like vines that accidentally entangled in infancy, but so reverent of each other that they found a way to grow _around_ each other while anchoring one another. He remembered when the other children came into his arms, and when the church became a orphanage, and not just a church where an old man raised a pair of orphans. He remembered when their world blossomed around them, and love came in different forms, both through spoken word and immediate action.

“And?” Ralph Niaflem inquired from his place on the old bed.

Orsi remembered a little boy with eyes that seemed to be perpetually dipped in equal parts gold and grief. That little boy never strayed from the other little boy's side, the one that bore unruly ash grey hair and a pair of eyes that glistened like the verdant forests that surrounded their beautiful little village.

Orsi remembered a little boy who fell in love before he even knew what the word meant.

“And he has someone,” Orsi enunciated clearly. “His home is here, sir, and so is his heart.”

Ralph seemed taken aback. “He has a girlfriend?”

“N-now, wait a minute, who said anything about a girl!?” Orsi sputtered, a deep blush blooming on his face.

“Oh,” Ralph said dryly. “I see... I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. He's young, popular, it would be expected, wouldn't it? To experiment with these things.”

Orsi didn't know why, but he felt vaguely disgusted that the other man would frame it in such a way. Orsi had never expected to watch a child fall in love with his best friend, but love was love, wasn't it? He never expected to have to pretend that he didn't see Yuno's gaze follow every little step Asta took towards the future, and he never expected to be the one to say out loud what Yuno himself had never once admitted in his life.

And yet, Orsi found that he couldn't lie to the man who'd crawled out of the past to come claim one of Orsi's sons as his own. Orsi couldn't allow that, not when Yuno was Asta's other half.

“His heart is set on a particular individual,” Orsi said firmly, “and I'll have you know that I plan to invite the _entire_ town to their wedding!”

“Oh... I see...”

“If it's a king you need, then you won't find him here,” Orsi stated, cutting to the chase. “Yuno's home is here in Hage, and so is his beloved. Those are bonds not even blood can tear apart.”

“And despite those bonds, he is Prince Yuno of House Grinberryall, heir to the Spade Kingdom's throne,” Ralph reminded him with a curt look. “He'll have to acknowledge the truth, even if he can't accept it.”

Orsi thought about the little boy who fell in love every day of his life, always with the same person, always wearing his heart on his sleeve as he followed that person all the way into the Magic Knights, a person who also grew up to be a hero of his people, a hero named Asta.

Orsi found that he couldn't stop the smile from blooming on his face. “He doesn't have to. Yuno has his heart. When it comes time for him to choose, he'll choose who he's always chosen.”

“And who is that?” Ralph challenged.

“You'll know, eventually.” Orsi Orfai retorted with a soft chuckle. “I'd like to see you try, sir. A word of advice from an old man like me? It's not worth standing in the way of true love. Only the truly blessed can experience it in their lifetime. Yuno has experienced it, and he's worked _hard_ for it. No kingdom is worth the price of separation, I'll have you know. He couldn't even stop himself from going after the Wizard King because of that boy! What makes you think he'll leave him behind for your castle and skies? His past may have been in your hands, but his future is in another's. Don't take it to heart, sir, but that is the truth. What is a king to a mortal in love? Nothing. A king is nothing, not when one's beloved is right beside them. Just you wait, you'll know his name one day, the boy who has our Yuno's heart, and you'll understand. You'll understand.”

And Orsi knew that, that day would come soon, and that when it arrived, they'd all rejoice.

After all, what better ending could a father hope for?

* * *


End file.
